The Student Room Group

Deciding which Unis to apply for with an access course

Hi, so i left secondary school in 2017 with 9 gcses. I also dropped out of college (where i was doing three a levels) 3 months in, and have been working ever since. However, in september i’m going to be doing an access course in history and hopefully study history in uni next year. i needed help deciding which unis to apply for as i don’t want to aim too high and use up all my 5 choices on universities that probs won’t accept but apply for the sake of the name, but i also don’t want to apply to lower league table universities. ideally, i would like to go to a russell group university.
the universities i have in mind currently are southampton, bristol, leicester, keele and either UEA or DMU.
do you think it is realistic to get into ideally the first three universities or would they prioritise people who have a levels ? if you can, please suggest alternatives (outside of london)
Unis like mature students and you are likely to get offers as long as you are predicted to reach the entry requirements listed on their websites. Southampton want "a minimum of 45 credits at Level 3, of which 39 must be at Distinction and 6 credits at Merit, to include 6 Distinctions in History or a related subject" as well as GCSE Maths & English at minimum grade 4/C, whereas Bristol say that "the 45 graded Level 3 credits must include at least 30 credits at Distinction and 15 at Merit or above". The college you do your Access course at should share your predictions with you so you know what is realistic.

I would also suggest Exeter uni just because my son is currently doing History there and they seem like a very well run department with lots of good module choices.
Original post by spjk123
Hi, so i left secondary school in 2017 with 9 gcses. I also dropped out of college (where i was doing three a levels) 3 months in, and have been working ever since. However, in september i’m going to be doing an access course in history and hopefully study history in uni next year. i needed help deciding which unis to apply for as i don’t want to aim too high and use up all my 5 choices on universities that probs won’t accept but apply for the sake of the name, but i also don’t want to apply to lower league table universities. ideally, i would like to go to a russell group university.
the universities i have in mind currently are southampton, bristol, leicester, keele and either UEA or DMU.
do you think it is realistic to get into ideally the first three universities or would they prioritise people who have a levels ? if you can, please suggest alternatives (outside of london)

I think if it was me I would probably look at somewhere else instead of Southampton given @Harrysbar reply. Look into Exeter it is a very good option for History. I suspect the others would be fine as places like Leicester and Keele do tend to be quite fleixble over grades
Original post by spjk123
Hi, so i left secondary school in 2017 with 9 gcses. I also dropped out of college (where i was doing three a levels) 3 months in, and have been working ever since. However, in september i’m going to be doing an access course in history and hopefully study history in uni next year. i needed help deciding which unis to apply for as i don’t want to aim too high and use up all my 5 choices on universities that probs won’t accept but apply for the sake of the name, but i also don’t want to apply to lower league table universities. ideally, i would like to go to a russell group university.
the universities i have in mind currently are southampton, bristol, leicester, keele and either UEA or DMU.
do you think it is realistic to get into ideally the first three universities or would they prioritise people who have a levels ? if you can, please suggest alternatives (outside of london)

Hi there!

Here at Keele, we only ask that students obtain a C (4) in English at GCSE level. If you’re planning on completing the access course then we ask that you get 112 UCAS Tariff points including a minimum of 15 Level 3 credits at Distinction. You can find out more about entry requirements here - https://www.keele.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/undergraduatecourses/history/#entry-requirements

So depending on your GCSE grade for English and how you do in your access course, Keele is an extremely likely possibility!

Also, have you considered a Foundation year? This course allows people who haven’t met the entry requirements to progress onto their chosen degree course. It just involves an extra year of study. I completed a health foundation year and progressed onto Adult nursing so I just thought it would be worth a mention! You can find out more about foundation years at Keele here - https://www.keele.ac.uk/study/foundationyears/

I hope this helps a little! If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask :smile:

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